The present invention relates to a low temperature curable coatings, more particularly to addition curable organopolysiloxane coatings that cure rapidly at low temperature.
Addition curable release coating compositions and their use as release coatings are known, see, for example, coassigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,448,815. A layer of such coating is typically applied to a substrate, such as paper, from a reactive coating bath which contains an alkenyl-functional organopolysiloxane, a hydride-functional organopolysiloxane, a precious metal catalyst and a cure inhibitor. Once applied, the layer of coating is cured by exposing the coated substrate to elevated temperature.
The cure inhibitor retards cure of the coating and enables a balance between a long useful coating bath life at low temperature and rapid cure speed at elevated temperature to be maintained. There is a constant desire in the art to provide increased cure speed without compromising bath life.
The need to subject the coated substrate to elevated temperature to cure the coating layer introduces some drawbacks to the use of addition cure organopolysiloxane release coatings coating process, in the form of energy costs, a need to rehydrate coated paper substrates after curing and a limited ability to use such coatings to coat temperature sensitive substrates, such as, for example, some polymer films. Due to these drawbacks, there is a desire in the art to provide coatings that are curable at lower temperature without compromising bath life.
In a first aspect, the present invention is directed to a method of making a coated substrate.
In a first embodiment, a method of making a coated substrate comprises: applying a layer of a coating composition, said coating composition comprising an alkenyl functional organopolysiloxane and a hydride functional organopolysiloxane, to a substrate, said substrate comprising a catalytically effective amount of a precious metal catalyst, and allowing the layer to cure.
In a second embodiment, a method of making a coated substrate comprises: applying a layer of a first component of a coating composition, said first component comprising an alkenyl functional organopolysiloxane and a catalytically effective amount of a precious metal catalyst to a substrate, applying a layer a second component of a coating composition, said second component comprising a hydride functional organopolysiloxane, to the substrate, and allowing the layers of coating composition to cure.
In a third embodiment, a method of making a coated substrate comprises: applying a layer of a coating composition, said coating composition comprising organopolysiloxane having both alkenyl and hydride radicals present on the same molecule, to the substrate, said substrate comprising a catalytically effective amount of a precious metal catalyst, and allowing the layer to cure.
The method of the present invention allows the use of a non-catalyzed coating bath having a very long useful life, while providing a highly reactive coating layer that may be rapidly cured at low temperature and thereby avoids some of the drawbacks, for example, high energy costs, the need to rehydrate paper substrates and the limited applicability to temperature sensitive substrates, that characterize typical addition cure coatings.
Another aspect of the present invention is directed to a catalyzed article comprising a substrate selected from paper sheets, polymer films, polymer coated paper sheets and metal foils, and a precious metal catalyst disposed on at least one surface of the substrate.
Another aspect of the present invention is directed to a method of forming a catalyzed article, comprising: forming a dilute catalyst by dissolving a precious metal catalyst in a volatile organic or organosiloxane solvent; or by dispersing a precious metal catalyst in a binder composition; or by dispersing a precious metal catalyst in a film forming polymer composition, and applying the dilute catalyst to the substrate, wherein the composition of the dilute catalyst and application rate of dilute catalyst on the substrate are selected to provide a selected amount of precious metal per unit area of substrate surface.
Alkenyl functional organopolysiloxanes suitable for use in the method of the present invention are those including structural units of the formula (I):
R1aSiO4xe2x88x92a/2 xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(I) 
wherein:
each R1 is independently hydroxyl or a monovalent hydrocarbon radical, and
a is an integer wherein 0xe2x89xa6axe2x89xa63,
provided that at least two R1 groups per molecule of such alkenyl functional organopolysiloxane are each independently alkenyl radicals.
As used herein xe2x80x9cmonovalent hydrocarbon radicalxe2x80x9d means a monovalent acyclic hydrocarbon radical, a monovalent alicyclic hydrocarbon radical or a monovalent aromatic hydrocarbon radical.
As used herein, the terminology xe2x80x9cacyclic hydrocarbon radicalxe2x80x9d means a monovalent straight chain or branched hydrocarbon radical, preferably containing from 2 to 20 carbon atoms per radical, which may be saturated or unsaturated and which may be optionally substituted or interrupted with one or more functional groups, such as, for example, carboxyl, cyano, hydroxy, halo and oxy. Suitable monovalent acyclic hydrocarbon radicals include, for example, alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, hydroxyalkyl, cyanoalkyl, carboxyalkyl, carboxamide, a]kylamido and haloalkyl, such as, for example, methyl, ethyl, sec-butyl, tert-butyl, octyl, decyl, dodecyl, cetyl, stearyl, ethenyl, propenyl, butynyl, hydroxypropyl, cyanoethyl, carboxymethyl, chloromethyl and 3,3,3-fluoropropyl.
As used herein the term xe2x80x9calkylxe2x80x9d means a saturated straight or branched monovalent hydrocarbon radical. In a preferred embodiment, monovalent alkyl groups are selected from linear or branched alkyl groups containing from 1 to 12 carbons per group, such as, for example, methyl, ethyl, propyl, iso-propyl, n-butyl, iso-butyl, sec-butyl, tert-butyl, pentyl, hexyl, heptyl, decyl, dodecyl.
As used herein the term xe2x80x9calkenylxe2x80x9d means a straight or branched monovalent terminally unsaturated hydrocarbon radical, preferably containing from 2 to 10 carbon atoms per radical, such as, for example, ethenyl, 2-propenyl, 3-butenyl, 5-hexenyl, 7-octenyl and ethenylphenyl.
As used herein, the terminology xe2x80x9cmonovalent alicyclic hydrocarbon radicalxe2x80x9d means a monovalent radical containing one or more saturated hydrocarbon rings, preferably containing from 4 to 10 carbon atoms per ring, per radical which may optionally be substituted on one or more of the rings with one or more alkyl radicals, each preferably containing from 2 to 6 carbon atoms per group, halo radicals or other functional groups and which, in the case of a monovalent alicyclic hydrocarbon radical containing two or more rings, may be fused rings. Suitable monovalent alicyclic hydrocarbon radicals include, for example, cyclohexyl and cyclooctyl.
As used herein, the terminology xe2x80x9cmonovalent aromatic hydrocarbon radicalxe2x80x9d means a monovalent hydrocarbon radical containing one or more aromatic rings per radical, which may, optionally, be substituted on the aromatic rings with one or more alkyl radicals, each preferably containing from 2 to 6 carbon atoms per group, halo radicals or other functional groups and which, in the case of a monovalent aromatic hydrocarbon radical containing two or more rings, may be fused rings. Suitable monovalent aromatic hydrocarbon radicals include, for example, phenyl, tolyl, 2,4,6-trimethylphenyl, 1,2-isopropylmethylphenyl, 1-pentalenyl, naphthyl, anthryl.
In a preferred embodiment, the alkenyl functional organopolysiloxane comprises one or more organopolysiloxane polymers or copolymer of the formula (II):
M1bMvicD1dDvieT1fTvigQh xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(II) 
wherein:
M1 is R23SiOxc2xd,
Mvi is R32R4SiOxc2xd,
D1 is R52SiO{fraction (2/2)},
Dvi is R6R7SiO{fraction (2/2)},
T1 is R8SiO{fraction (3/2)},
Tvi is R9SiO{fraction (3/2)},
Q is SiO{fraction (4/2)},
each R2, R3, R5, R6 and R8 is independently hydroxyl or a monovalent hydrocarbon radical,
each R4, R7 and R9 is independently alkenyl,
b, c, d, e, f, g and h are each integers selected to provide polymer a having a viscosity of from 50 to 50,000 centiStokes (xe2x80x9ccStxe2x80x9d) and having a desired amount of alkenyl groups per molecule, provided at least one of c, e and g is greater than 0, so that the alkenyl functional organopolysiloxane contains at least two alkenyl radicals per molecule.
In a preferred embodiment, R2, R3, R5, R6 and R8 are each (C1-C6)alkyl, most preferably methyl, R4, R7 and R9 are each independently a terminally unsaturated (C2-C6)alkenyl radical, more preferably, ethenyl or 5-hexenyl.
In a preferred embodiment, the coefficients b, c, d, e, f, g and h are selected to provide a having a viscosity of from 100 to 1000 cSt, more preferably from 150 to 500 cSt.
In a more highly preferred embodiment, the alkenyl functional organopolysiloxane comprises one or more compounds selected from: linear alkenyl-stopped dialkylsiloxane polymers of the formula Mvi2D1d, branched alkenyl-stopped dialkylsiloxane polymers of the formula M1bMvicD1dT1f, siloxane polymers of the formula M1bMvicQ1h, alkenyl-stopped alkylalkenyl dialkylpolysiloxane copolymers of the formula M1bMvicD1dDvie, wherein M1, Mvi, D1, Dvi, Tf, Q, b, c, d, e and h are each defined as above, and wherein R2, R3, R5, R6 and R8 are each alkyl, preferably methyl, and wherein R4 and R7 are each preferably ethenyl.
Hydride functional organopolysiloxanes suitable for use in the method of the present invention are those including structural units of the structural formula (III):
R10iSiO4xe2x88x92{fraction (i/2)}xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(III) 
wherein
each R10 is independently H or a monovalent hydrocarbon radical, and a is an integer wherein 0xe2x89xa6ixe2x89xa63,
provided that at least two R10 groups per molecule of such hydride functional organopolysiloxane are each H.
In a preferred embodiment, the hydride functional organopolysiloxane is an organopolysiloxane of the structural formula (IV):
M2jMHkD21DHmT2nTHoQp xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(IV) 
wherein:
M2 is R113SiOxc2xd,
MH is R122R13SiOxc2xd,
D2 is R142SiO{fraction (2/2)},
DH is R15R16SiO{fraction (2/2)},
T2 is R17SiO{fraction (3/2)},
TH is R18SiO{fraction (3/2)},
Q is SiO{fraction (4/2)},
each R11, R12, R14, R15 and R17 is independently a monovalent hydrocarbon radical,
R13, R16 and R18 are each H,
j, k, l, m, n, o and p are each integers selected to provide a polymer having a viscosity of from 1 to 1000 cSt and a desired amount of silicon-bonded H radicals per molecule, provided at least one of k, m and o is greater than 0, so that the hydride functional organopolysiloxane contains at least two silicon-bonded H radicals per molecule.
In a preferred embodiment, R11, R12, R14 and R15 are each (C1-C6)alkyl, most preferably methyl.
In a preferred embodiment, the coefficients b, c, d, e, f, g and h are selected to provide a having a viscosity of from 10 to 150 cSt, more preferably from 20 to 80 cSt.
In a more highly preferred embodiment, the hydride functional organopolysiloxane comprises one or more compounds selected from trialkylsiloxy-stopped alkyl hydrogen polysiloxanes of the formula M2jDHm, trialkylsiloxy-stopped alkylhydrogen dialkylpolysiloxane copolymers of the formula M2jD21DHm, wherein M2, D2, DH, j, l and m are each defined as above, and wherein R11, R14 and R15 are each alkyl, preferably methyl.
In an alternative embodiment, the coating composition comprises an organopolysiloxane having both alkenyl and hydride radicals present on the same molecule, such as for example the organopolysiloxanes disclosed in coassigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,698,654 and 5,753,751, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
In a preferred embodiment, the alkenyl and hydride functional organopolysiloxane comprises one or more organopolysiloxanes of the formula (V):
M1qMvirMHsD1uDHvT1wTvixTHyQzxe2x80x83xe2x80x83(V) 
wherein; M1, Mvi, MH, D1, Dvi, DH, T1, Tvi, TH, Q are each defined as above and q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y and z are each integers selected to provide polymer a having a viscosity of from 50 to 50,000 cSt and having a desired amount of alkenyl groups and silicon-bonded H radicals per molecule, provided that each molecule contains at least two alkenyl groups and at least two silicon-bonded H radical.
In a preferred embodiment coating composition exhibits a molar ratio of silicon bonded hydrogen on the hydride functional organopolysiloxane to alkenyl groups on the alkenyl functional organopolysiloxane (xe2x80x9cSixe2x80x94H:alkenyl ratioxe2x80x9d) of from 1:5 to 5:1, more preferably from 1:1 to 4:1 and even more preferably from 1.2:1 to 2.5:1.
The coating composition used in the method of the present invention may optionally include other components known in the art, such as, for example, nonreactive diluents, such as for example, solvents such as water, hydrocarbon fluids and non-functionalized silicone oils, reactive diluents, such as, for example, vinyl ether compounds, cure inhibitors, cure rate accelerators, fillers, controlled release additives and colorants.
Substrates suitable for use in the method of the present invention include paper, such as for example, supercalendered kraft paper, glassine paper, machine finished paper and machine glazed paper, and polymer films, such as, for example, polyolefins, polyesters and polystyrenics, metal foils, such as for example, aluminum foil and composite substrates, such as for example, polyolefin coated kraft paper.
Precious metal catalysts suitable for use in the method of the present invention are those capable of catalyzing the cure of an addition curable siloxane coating composition. In a preferred embodiment, the precious metal catalyst comprises one or more of platinum and rhodium. Suitable precious metal catalysts include, for example, chloroplatinic acid, precious metal salts, such as for example, sodium or potassium salts of chloroplatinic acid, platinum halides, organometallic complexes, such as, for example, Karstedt""s catalyst, platinum cyclohexadiene complex, platinum acetyl acetonate complex, as well as olefinic ligands of platinum or rhodium, and supported precious metal catalysts, such as platinum deposited on silica or alumina particles, which provide the precious metal in a form that is suitable for catalyzing the cure of the organopolysiloxane mixture of the coating composition used in the method of the present invention. In a preferred embodiment, the precious metal catalyst comprises a platinum complex of divinyl tetramethyl disiloxane.
In a preferred embodiment, a dilute form of the precious metal catalyst is made by dissolving the catalyst in a solvent, such as for example, hexane, heptane, octane or a mixture thereof or an organopolysiloxane, or by dispersing the catalyst in a binder composition, for example, a binder composition for finishing paper comprising a polymer latex and an inorganic filler, or by dispersing the catalyst in a film forming polymer composition, such as, for example, polyvinyl alcohol or a polyacrylate composition, and the dilute form of catalyst is applied to the substrate, by for example, spray coating, roll coating, rod coating or extrusion, to form a precious metal catalyst-containing substrate.
Alternatively, the catalyst is dissolved in an alkenyl functional organopolysiloxane and a layer of the an alkenyl functional organopolysiloxane/catalyst solution is applied to the substrate.
As used herein, xe2x80x9ccatalytically effective amountxe2x80x9d means an amount effective to catalyze the cure of a layer of coating disposed on the substrate. In a preferred embodiment, the precious metal catalyst-containing substrate contains greater than about 0.000001 g, more preferably from 0.00005 to 0.01 g, and still more preferably, from 0.0005 to 0.001 g, of precious metal per square meter of substrate surface.
A layer of the coating composition is applied to the substrate by for example, spray coating, roll coating, rod coating or extrusion and allowed to cure. The layer of coating composition may be allowed to cure at uncontrolled ambient temperature or may be allowed to cure at an elevated temperature, such as for example, a temperature of up to about 100xc2x0 C., more preferably up to about 70xc2x0 C., and still more preferably, up to about 40xc2x0 C.
The coated substrate made by the method of the present invention is useful a release liner for pressure sensitive adhesive-backed articles such as, for example, adhesive labels and adhesives tapes.
An adhesive laminate comprises a coated substrate made by the method of the present invention laminated with a pressure sensitive adhesive coated substrate, such that the cured coating layer of the coated substrate made by the method of the present invention is in contact with the pressure sensitive adhesive layer on the pressure sensitive adhesive coated substrate. Suitable pressure sensitive adhesive compositions, such as, for example, emulsion acrylic adhesives, solvent acrylic adhesives, hot melt adhesives, emulsion rubber adhesive, solvent rubber adhesives, and methods for making pressure sensitive adhesive coated substrates are well known in the art. The pressure sensitive adhesive coated substrate may be easily removed from the coated substrate made by the method of the present invention and applied to another substrate, as desired.